Mike's Movie Tips

3/4 Starring: Tom Green, Anna Popplewell, Enisha Brewster, Ayelet Zurer, Max Carver Not Rated (probably PG-13 for Intense Sci-Fi Violence) If you haven't already guessed, based on the fact that I'm reviewing this, I'm a huge "Halo" nerd.  I admit it without qualm or embarrassment.  I've been a fan of the franchise from the moment me and my brother put in the original "Halo" in the Xbox after Christmas 2001.  I've played every subsequent "Halo" game except "Halo: Wars."  I'm making my way through the books, and my copy of the "Halo Encyclopedia" is very worn. "Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn" was originally produced as web series consisting of five 15-minutes episodes (which probably contributed to the narrative problems) in order to build hype for "Halo 4" and expand the interest of gamers who weren't fans of the franchise.  All in all, it's not an essential part of the "Halo...

4/4 Starring: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Pamela Reed, Veronica Cartwright, Barbara Hershey, Donald Moffat, Mary Jo Deschanel Rated PG (for Language and Momentary Nudity...I Guess) Just because a movie is educational doesn't mean that it's not entertaining.  In general, audiences don't go to the movies to be educated...they have enough of that in school.  They want to be entertained.  And that's what happens with "The Right Stuff," a movie that has a straightforward and compelling primary narrative, with plenty of thematic content for seasoning. The film, in general, details the U.S. Space Race.  It opens with a test pilot trying, and failing, to cross the sound barrier.  The casualties for this quest are astronomical, until a former fighter pilot named Chuck Yeager (Shepard) volunteers to go. After about a half hour, the film shifts gears to tell the story of the Mercury Space program.  After Soviet Russia sends ...

3/4 Starring: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence Throughout, Pervasive Language and Some Sexuality "Wanted" gives new meaning to the term "over the top."  Curved bullets?  Been there.  Slinky femme fatales?  Done that.  Russian director Timur Bekmambetov combines those and more into a whole that, while not doing much for the mind, is still a lot of fun. Wesley (McAvoy) is a cubicle rat on the verge of going postal.  His best friend Barry (Chris Pratt) is sleeping with his girlfriend, his boss delights in tormenting him, and the realization that he is contributing nothing to society is giving him panic attacks.  While filling his prescription one night, a gorgeous babe tells him that his father (who abandoned him when he was a week old) was one of the greatest assassins who ever lived, and his killer is standing right behind him.  After saving his neck (the seco...

0.5/4 Starring: Penn Badgely, Imogen Poots, Ben Rosenfield Not Rated (contains brief language and brief sex/nudity) It's always hard to tear down a movie that is a passion project for its lead actor or director.  Such is the case with "Greetings from Tim Buckley."  The film's star, the up-and-coming and very talented Penn Badgely , has been a Jeff Buckley fan since he was 17.  He even told his agent that if they were making a movie about the singer that he had to do it.  Unfortunately, this film doesn't to justice to either its subject or its star. Actually, that's an understatement.  This movie is dreadful.  There's no plot, no characters and no dialogue of any interest.  The only good things about this movie are the performances by the two leads and the music. Jeff Buckley (Badgely) is a musician who has just been invited to a tribute concert for his father, the cult musician Tim Buckley (Rosenfield).  Because Tim all but abandoned him...

2/4 Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Charles S. Dutton, Polly Walker, Robert Patrick, Christopher Fulford, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Berenger, Stephen Lang, Angela Alvarado, Robert Prosky, Sean Patrick Flannery, Courtney B. Vance Rated R for Strong Violence/Gore and Language Why would Universal Studios sell the rights to $55 million dollar film and then disown it?  Because it's jaw-droppingly awful? Hardly.  It's just relentlessly mediocre. "Eye See You," which also goes by the name "D-Tox," was filmed in 1999, but the release was delayed for several years until the studio grew tired of the film and sold the rights to DEJ Productions, a small independent film company.  But the blandness of the final result made it clear that it would not be a hit (and would likely be a complete bomb).  Still, it's hardly deserving of the treatment that Universal gave it.  After all, there are many other big budget productions from Universal that are much, much worse...

2.5/4 Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch Rated R for Violence/Cruelty, Some Nudity and Brief Sexuality Typically, studio interference is usually bad news for a film (" Mimic " is one of many examples).  In the case of "12 Years a Slave," however, I think that the opposite is true.  Director Steve McQueen's previous two features, "Hunger" and " Shame " were fantastic looking bouts of extraordinary self-indulgence.  Here, McQueen is using an actual script.  While the film is too problematic for me to recommend outright, it is compelling and well-acted. Solomon Northrup (Ejiofor) is a well-to-do black man living in New York.  He is married to Anne (Kelsey Scott) and is the father of Margaret (Quvenzhane Wallis) and Alonzo (Cameron Zeigler).  While his wife and children are away, Solomon (who is a skilled violin player) is asked by two men to tour with their band for a short time.  But he i...

2/4 Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Intense Sci-Fi Action and Violence, and Some Suggestive Content Was anyone really wanting this movie?  I mean seriously, I know that " The Avengers " dominated the box office (sadly, it's the all-time box office champ after " Avatar " and " Titanic "), but did the Norse God need another movie of his own?  I recall seeing a poll on iMDb a while back about which superhero movies people were pumped up to see, and "Thor: The Dark World" was at the bottom of a list of 10. The reason "Thor: The Dark World" exists is because...drumroll please...money.  Hollywood's number one incentive.  It's certainly not because anyone felt there was another story to tell, because based on the evidence, no one is particularly excited to be a part of it.  Except Stan Lee, who once agai...

0.5/4 Starring: Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Charlie Creed-Miles, Laila Morse, Jamie Foreman, Edna Dore Rated R for Graphic Drug Use, Non-Stop Strong Language, Brutal Domestic Violence and Some Nudity I have nothing but the utmost respect for Gary Oldman.  One of Britain's most versatile actors, Oldman has given some truly remarkable performances.  Although he is most famous for his role as Commissioner Gordon in Nolan's Batman trilogy (which I don't think is his best performance), he has also played hissably evil villains like Ivan Korushnov in "Air Force One" and Senator Shelly Runyon in "The Contender" (where he was so good that it was impossible to believe that it was him). Which is why it pains me to say that his writing and directing debut, "Nil By Mouth," a film that is at least partly autobiographical, is awful.  There is no beating around the bush.  It's an atrocity.  Almost nothing works, and much of it is borderline unwatch...

1.5/4 Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Charles, Sofia Vergara, Fionnula Flanagan Rated R for Strong Violence, Pervasive Language and Some Sexual Content Few things are more depressing for a film critic than a movie that has the potential to be something far greater than it actually is.  The list of movies that botched a great premise is long.  " Crimson Tide ," " Leatherheads ," " Children of the Corn ," and " Possession " are a few examples from my list of reviews.  And there are plenty off others.  Add John Singleton's "Four Brothers" to that list. John Singleton's movie "Four Brothers" had the potential to be a powerful crime thriller about revenge or family ties.  But while there are times when it dives into that bleakness, more often than not is a formulaic revenge story featuring plastic characters and a rushed storyline.  Act...

2.5/4 Starring: Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Viggo Mortensen, Matt Craven, George Dzundza, James Gandolfini Rated R for Strong Language The premise of "Crimson Tide," which has two commanders of a nuclear submarine battling each other for control of a nuclear submarine, is gripping.  Raise the stakes by making the outcome determine whether or not the world descends into nuclear war and you've got yourself a movie.  Add Denzel Washington as the soft-spoken analytical new XO and Gene Hackman as the "black and white" commander, and your movie just turned into a legendary masterpiece.  Or so one would hope. Don't get me wrong.  "Crimson Tide" is not a bad movie.  It's just one that constantly shows how it could have been greater.  There's no denying that this movie is consistently suspenseful, but there are some fairly serious problems. A conflict between Russia and Chechnyan rebels has turned into an outright civil war.  A rogue ...

2/4 Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Stanfield, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Moises Arias Rated PG-13 for Some Violence, Sci-Fi Action and Thematic Material "Ender's Game," based on the classic sci-fi novel by the now-controversial Orson Scott Card, feels like a missed opportunity.  There's plenty of material here to chew on, and to be fair to the film, it does mention it.  But it skirts over the thought-provoking stuff in a race to the finish line. Seventy years ago, Earth was ravaged by the vicious alien species known as the Formics.  Earth won, although many were convinced that the Formics would return.  Children were being trained as generals to fight the Formics, but no one has been up to the level of Mazer Rackham (Kingsley), who found a way to defeat the Formics.  Colonel Graff (Ford) thinks he has found the next Mazer Rackham in Ender Wiggin (Butterfield), a young boy.  But is he right, and if he is, can he tra...

When I first heard that they were making a movie of "Ender's Game," I was disgusted.  Card is an outspoken opponent of gay marriage and former board member of the National Organization for Marriage.  Should we, in this day and age, be allowing such people to be paid millions for their stories to be turned into movies?  How could I, as a gay man, give money to a film whose author said that anti-homosexuality laws should remain on the books (if only to let people know that the behavior is unacceptable)? For a long while, my gut instinct was to say no, and to refuse to give any money to someone who says such horrible things.  Since then, my position has changed. After reading an article, in "The Advocate," no less ("The Advocate" is probably the biggest gay magazine in the United States, for those of you who don't know...), that argued in favor of seeing it, I realize that things aren't that simple. First off, Card is not the only person mak...

2/4 Starring: Heath Ledger, Benno Furmann, Mark Addy, Shannyn Sossamon, Peter Weller Rated R for Violent Images, Sexuality, and Language not to be confused with the 2001 flick starring Jean-Claude Van Damme "The Order" is bizarre.  Not so much in terms of its plot (although no one will call it conventional), but because so awkwardly constructed.  It's unfocused and suffers from erratic pacing.  And the script could have used some rewrites too.  But the real reason is that it doesn't know what it wants to be.  A psychological thriller with elements of the supernatural?  A character study?  A morality play?  A special-effects geared horror movie?  Writer/director/producer Brian Helgeland doesn't know, and the result is a weird tale, although not necessarily a successful one. Alex Bernier (Ledger) is a priest of the Carolingian order, a dying group of priests whose obsessive search for knowledge has made them outsiders among the Cathol...

1/4 Starring (voices): Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler, George Takei, Colm Meaney, Keith David Rated PG for Some Action/Peril and Rude Humor It would be too easy to call this movie a turkey since it is, in fact, about turkeys.  No doubt the filmmakers would consider that a compliment of sorts.  So let me give you some other adjectives to describe how awful this movie is: terminally bland, boring, banal, trite, preachy, and unfunny. The story, which is a mix of "Avatar" and "Chicken Run" (and an insult to both), is completely uninteresting.  Reggie (Wilson) is a odd duck turkey.  While his family members blindly follow food and are incredibly dense, Reggie is a little smarter.  So when they finally figure out that they're going to end up on a platter, they volunteer Reggie.  Fortunately for him, fate has something else in store for him: he's a "pardoned" turkey, meaning that he'll be able to keep his head and live the good life...

3.5/4 Starring: Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogucharskiy, Pavel Ponomaryov, Lilya Shinkaryova, Elina Benenson, Lyubov Agapova Rated R for Strong Sexual Content, A Rape Scene, Drug Use and Language "Lilya 4-Ever" is a tough, tough movie.  Almost unremittingly bleak with only a few magical moments of levity, and even those are mostly under a grim shadow considering the context in which they occur.  The saddest thing is that the protagonist's story happens far too often in real life. Lilya (Akinshina) is a 16 year old living in Estonia.  She's elated that her mother's new boyfriend is taking her and her mother to live in the United States.  She brags to her friends Natasha (Benenson) and Volodya (Bogucharskiy) about how excited she is and what life will be like.  Then her mother drops the bombshell that she and her boyfriend are going alone and will "send for her later."  Right.  Her aunt Anna (Shinkaryova) doesn't care about her and makes her move...